Roller assembly

ABSTRACT

A roller assembly for a sliding closure which is a selfcontained unit for simple insertion into the frame of a sliding closure and wherein the roller is carried by a pivotally-mounted arm yieldably urged outwardly through an opening in the frame. The inward limit position of the roller can be adjusted by optionally usable structure which is in plain view for ease of adjustment. The mounting base for the roller assembly is insertable through the frame opening and is held in wedged relation with the interior of the frame by a single fastening member.

United States Patent [19] Armstrong ROLLER ASSEMBLY Inventor: Henry P. Armstrong, lslington,

Ontario, Canada 2/1973 Benson 16/91 5] July 30, 1974 Primary Examiner-J. Karl Bell Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wegner, Stellman, McCord, Wiles & Wood [5 7] ABSTRACT A roller assembly for a sliding closure which is a selfcontained unit for simple insertion into the frame of a sliding closure and wherein the roller is carried by a pivotally-mounted arm. yieldably urged outwardly through an opening in the frame. The inward limit position of the roller can be adjusted by optionally usable structure which is in plain view for ease of adjustment. The mounting base for the roller assembly is insertable through the frame opening and is held in wedged relation with the interior of the frame by a single fastening member.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ROLLER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to roller assemblies and, more particularly, to such a roller assembly for use with a sliding closure.

The assignee of this application has, for several years, manufactured sliding closures and roller assemblies therefor. One construction of roller assembly that has been used is shown in Martin US. Pat. No. 3,416,183. This prior construction has been costly to manufacture and has not had provision for optionally usuable'structure for controlling the inner position of the roller thereof with such structure normally not being required when the roller assemblies are used at the top of the sliding closure.

The following US. Pats. disclose the mounting of a guide roller by a pivoted arm. Knapp US. Pat. No. 162,930; Andrews U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,444; DuShane US. Pat. No. 3,299,575; Helmick US. Pat. 'No. 3,613,313.

Such structures have required complex attachment structure and adjusting structure which would increase the cost of a sliding closure because of the expense of manufacture of the roller assembly and the assembly thereof into the frame of the sliding closure.

SUMMARY A primary purpose of the invention disclosed herein is to provide a roller assembly of economical construction having a wide range of adjusting movement and which may be usuable at both top and bottom of a sliding closure and with optionally usable adjustment structure for limiting the inward movement of the roller and its pivotally-mounted mounting arm.

A further purpose of the invention disclosed herein is to provide a roller assembly constructed for easy assembly to the frame of the sliding closure by insertion through an opening in the frame through which the mounting roller extends and with surfaces arranged to wedge against interior surfaces of the closure frame and a single fastening member for holding the roller assembly in position in the frame of the sliding closure.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved roller assembly for a sliding closure which is of a simple, unitary construction and which may simply be inserted into the frame of the sliding closure and which has optionally usable structure associated therewith for adjustment after assembly in the frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roller assembly for a sliding closure mountable within the ho]- low frame of the closure and having a base wedged into the interior of the frame and held thereto by a single fastening member, a roller mounting arm pivoted to the base and carrying a roller projectable outwardly of the frame through a frame opening, spring means for urging the roller outwardly through the frame opening to a limit position and optionally usable means for setting an adjustable limit position for inward movement of the roller including an internally-threaded sleeve fitted in a second frame opening and an adjusting screw threaded thereto and engageable with a contoured surface movable with the roller mounting arm.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a vertical elevation of a sliding closure with guide tracks having a number of the roller assemblies associated therewith, with the closure broken away to reduce the size of the showing thereof and the closure frame broken away to show the roller assemblies associated therewith;

FIG. 2 is a vertical elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the structure shown at the right-hand sideof FIG. 1 and with a material such as screening carried by the frame of the sliding closure shown in broken line;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section-taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view taken generally along the line 44 in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A plurality of roller assemblies, indicated generally at 10, are shown associated with a sliding closure, indicated generally at 11 in FIG. 1. The sliding closure 11 may be a patio door having material, such as screen material 12, fastened to a surround frame having end frame sections 15 and 16 and top and bottom frame sections 17 and 18 respectively.

The sliding closure 11 is mounted for movement along an upper track 25 and a lower track 26 mounted on a suitable supporting framework.

The bottom frame section 18 is typical of the frame used for the sliding closure and, in a preferred form, can be formed as an extrusion of lightmetal, such as aluminum. The extrusion has an inner panel 30, an outer panel 31, and a bridging panel section 32, with an internal bracing wall 33 and a lower wall 34 provided with openings 35 and 36, respectively.

The screen material 12 has a peripheral edge thereof held within a recess in the outer panel 31 by a securing strip 37.

Each of the roller assemblies 10 is of the same basic construction, regardless of whether it is associated with the bottom frame section 18 or the top frame section 17. Each of the roller assemblies has a mounting base 40 formed of planar material and having a pair of opposed surfaces 41 and 42 whereby insertion of the rollerassembly through the frame openings 35 and 36 permits positioning of the mounting base with the surfaces 41 and 42 wedged against the interior surfaces of the surround frame. These parts are held in wedged relation with the frame by a single fastening member in the form of a threaded member 43 extended through the bridging section 32 and threaded into a laterallyextending flange 44 of the mounting base.

The mounting base pivotally mounts a pair of roller mounting arms 50 each having an offset intermediate the ends thereof. A roller 51' engages with the track 26 and is rotatably mounted on a pin 52 carried by the arms 50. The arms 50 are secured to a spacer plate 54 by a pin 56 and all these parts are pivoted to the mounting base 40 by a pivot pin 53.

The roller 51 and roller mounting arms 50 are urged outwardly through the openings 35 and 36 of the frame by means of a spring formed of music wire or the like having a leg 55 thereof engageable with the pin 56 and the other leg 57 of the spring abutting against a flange 58 of the mounting base and with the central part of the spring mounted on a pin 59 secured to the mounting base.

As will be seen in FIG. 2, the structure of the roller assembly described to this point is the same for use at both the top and bottom of the sliding closure.

The roller assemblies associated with the bottom of the sliding closure have additional structure providing for an adjustably set limit position for inward movement of the roller 51 and roller mounting arm 50 of the assembly. This settable adjustment is accessible from the interior of the sliding closure and is readily visible. This structure includes an internally-threaded sleeve 60 fitted in an opening 61 in the bridging section 32 of the frame and having an enlarged lower end 62 engaged by the mounting base 40 to hold the sleeve in position relative to the frame. The sleeve threadably mounts an adjusting screw 65 which has its lower end engageable with the spacer plate 54. This spacer plate 54 has a contoured upper surface 77 engageable with the lower end of the adjusting screw whereby a maximum range of adjustment of the roller 51 may be provided with a relatively short adjusting screw 65.

With the structure disclosed herein a singlebasic design of roller assembly may be built and installed in both top and bottom frame members of the sliding closure frame. The roller assemblies at the top of the sliding closure only require that the rollers 51 be yieldably urged outwardly into engagement with the track 25. The roller assemblies associated with the bottom of the sliding closure must have a positively set position of extension and, thus, may have the optionally usable adjustment structure including the internally-threaded sleeve 60 and adjusting screw 65. This structure is easily visible from the interior of the sliding closure and provides an adjustment with positive positioning of the roller assembly, since there are no springs intervening between the adjusting screw 65 and the roller 51. This positive adjustment of the rollers of the lower roller assemblies results in compressing the mounting arms of the roller assemblies mounted at the top to adjust the sliding closure between the top and bottom tracks for proper ease of operation.

In the event the sliding closure is to be reversible, then the roller assemblies mounted at both top and bottom of the sliding closure may have the adjustment setting structure to enable either group of roller assemblies to operate as at the bottom of the sliding closure.

In a roller assembly actually built, the structure provides for a total of 0.75 inch of free travel for the rollers of the roller assemblies at the top of the sliding closure with a full 0.50 inch range of settable adjustment of the bottom rollers whereby a maximum amount of adjustment of the mounting of a sliding closure to a supporting framework is obtainable. I claim:

1. 'A roller assembly for a sliding closure mountable within the hollow frame of the closure comprising, a base mounted interiorly of the frame, a roller mounting arm pivoted to said base and carrying a roller projectable outwardly of the frame through a frame opening, spring means urging said mounting arm in a direction to move the roller to a limit position outwardly of the frame, and means for limiting movement of the mounting arm and roller inwardly of the frame including a curved surface on the arm and extending lengthwise thereof, an internally-threaded member mounted in a second frame opening and an adjusting screw threaded in said internally-threaded member and engageable with said curved surface, said curved surface having a contour to present a section of the surface into engagement with the adjusting screw in all positions of the arm and with the section being generally normal to the axis of the adjusting screw.

2. A roller assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said base is insertable in said frame by movement through the first recited frame opening, and the base is locked in said frame by a pair of wedging surfaces engageable with spaced parts of the frame interior and a fastener connecting the base and frame and holding said wedging surfaces wedged against the frame inter- IOX'. 

1. A roller assembly for a sliding closure mountable within the hollow frame of the closure comprising, a base mounted interiorly of the frame, a roller mounting arm pivoted to said base and carrying a roller projectable outwardly of the frame through a frame opening, spring means urging said mounting arm in a direction to move the roller to a limit position outwardly of the frame, and means for limiting movement of the mounting arm and roller inwardly of the frame including a curved surface on the arm and extending lengthwise thereof, an internally-threaded member mounted in a second frame opening and an adjusting screw threaded in said internally-threaded member and engageable with said curved surface, said curved surface having a contour to present a section of the surface into engagement with the adjusting screw in all positions of the arm and with the section being generally normal to the axis of the adjusting screw.
 2. A roller assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said base is insertable in said frame by movement through the first recited frame opening, and the base is locked in said frame by a pair of wedging surfaces engageable with spaced parts of the frame interior and a fastener connecting the base and frame and holding said wedging surfaces wedged against the frame interior. 